How should the Massachusetts health plan operate? Devon Herrick offers some proposals, including the following:

• Eliminate subsidies that go directly to hospitals, and fund insurance for individuals instead.
• Make sure that the "connector" for insurance gives information in plans, not set unreasonable requirements on how each plan operates.
• Eliminate the employer "pay or play" mandate.
• Eliminate community rating and guaranteed issues in favor of a high-risk pool.
• Do away with mandated benefits.

If nothing else, the Massachusetts plan has set in motion a prolonged discussion of health insurance. Now if it would actually be done right and thus serve as a model for other states to follow. So far that hasn't been the case.